South Whidbey Record

Whidbey General Hospital to sell properties

Two Whidbey General Hospital properties that aren’t being used will soon be sold off.

Hospital commissioners recently declared two resident properties surplus, one on Echo Loop in Oak Harbor and the other on Highway 525 in Freeland. The hospital has to go through a public process to sell each property.

The South Whidbey property is a 1-acre lot located next to Skagit Farmers Supply. The structure used to serve as ambulance quarters until a new EMS facility was constructed around 2008.

He described the structure as being in poor condition and has been vacant since 2008.

The second property is an Oak Harbor home bequeathed to the hospital in 2010. Normally such a donation would go through the foundation. Hanigan said because the hospital was named in the will, the hospital has to go through the lengthy process to sell it.

“We’re not in the business of residential real estate,” Hanigan said.

“It’s a cumbersome process to go through,” said hospital board President Anne Tarrant, during a board meeting last month.

The hospital has to go through several steps before selling the properties. Now that both lots have been declared surplus, officials have to hold a public hearing so residents can comment on the merits of the potential sale. Hanigan said that a date for the hearing hasn’t been set yet.